When the Clock Strikes Twelve
by My Hopeless Romantic
Summary: … Sumire's got nowhere else to run. Because he was a fool to believe she'd love him and she was a fool to believe he'd wait. SumireKoko. #26
1. He Was a Fool to Believe She'd Love Him

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Tachibana Higuchi. The rest is mine. :)  
**Dedication: **Heartbroken Confession, for this horribly late story. When you challenge/prompted me last Christmas, I doubt you expected this. Like it?  
Prompts: "I'm trying very hard to be witty right now, but I'm beginning to think slugging you in the face will suffice." SumireKoko, a Crack!Pairing, Socks!

-

**When the Clock Strikes Twelve**

-;-

_There is too much, just too much, and somehow it's just not enough._

_-;-_

_-;-_

**Chapter One: He Was a Fool to Believe She'd Love Him**

-;-

_i._

Sumire can feel his eyes on her, but she hopes that, if she ignores him long enough, he'll get tired and wander away.

Boys are always like that. As long as a girl seems disinterested enough, the guy feels it's pointless and leaves.

Sumire is fourteen.

She knows these things.

That boy is twelve, a mere _preteen. _

He doesn't know squat.

"Just tell him you're not interested, Sumire. He's never going to get the picture. He's only in elementary school!" Wakako admonishes. When Sumire looks up to glare, she sees Wakako blowing dust out of her cuticles and looking at the table across from them.

She tells herself not to look at him, though, because the last thing she wants him to think is she's trying to sneak glances. Sumire may be regarded as a flirt but contrary to popular belief, she doesn't go after everything with a Y chromosome.

Especially younger boys.

"Red aleeeert," Wakako drawls under her breath.

Before Sumire can think of doing anything, he's standing in front of her with a small, clever smile on his face. Brown eyes glimmer with mischief when Sumire glares at him. "What do you wan—"

"I think you're pretty."

Sumire's jaw almost drops. "I don't care if you think I'm—"

"—PRETTY UGLY!"

The boy chortles and runs away.

Sumire doesn't know what's just happened.

-;-

_ii._

"Sumire."

She's ignoring him.

"Shoudaaaa."

But he's not giving up.

"_Forest Monster!"_

She doesn't think he's very creative either.

"Seaweed head!"

Sumire smirks at just how well she's dealing with this stubborn little bo—

"Permi-fried seaweed-face hulk-of-a-cucumber slash California roll!"

"What do you _want_?!" Sumire whirls around to face the insistent, Cheshire grin she's gotten used to for the past _three _weeks. Three. Three _weeks_! He was supposed to get up and _leave _after the first few days! Why was he still here? Why was he still hanging around when it was so obvious she didn't want him nearby?

The boy only narrows his eyes in his _I fascinate you, don't I _kind of fashion and grins, "I want you to make me a sandwich."

Sumire's eyes twitch. "Do I _look _like your mother? Look here, you little _punk_. You don't belong here. Why don't you just scurry over that fence like the way you came and get back to school. I'm sure all of your _elementary _school teachers are looking frantically for you."

"I'm not little," his grin turns haughty, "—and the teachers are _definitely _not looking for me. Why don't you make me a sandwich?"

"Why don't you get lost?"

He leans forward and his grin is slightly mocking. "Why don't _you _get lost?"

Sumire glares at him. "You might have forgotten three important details.` First of all, this is the middle school branch, so no little elementary boys are allowed running around here. Second, I'm your senior, you little punk. You're supposed to listen to what I say." It's always good to be mature and tell them who's boss, Sumire thinks. "Lastly, I was here _first_. Finders keepers, _losers_ weepers."

She expects his grin to falter, but his eyes merely brighten before a voice behind her says, "Very mature, Shouda."

Sumire fights the blush and whips around in her seat in time to see Natsume raise an eyebrow and Ruka grin. It's Natsume and Ruka. Sure, they're thirteen and consequently one year younger than she is but by God, if they aren't the cutest boys in the middle school branch. Natsume, hands down, is the hottest, which is surprising because there were some pretty good looking middle school boys around before spring came along and they moved up to middle school.

She vows to kill Koko when they're alone. He made her look like a fool in front of Natsume and Ruka, that stupid, little troublemake—

"Hey Natsume! Ruka!" Koko chirps, standing up to punch Natsume in the shoulder.

_Oh God, he just punched Natsume in the shoulder, what the hell does that mean?_

Natsume's tone is low and _sososo _cool. "Koko. You're skipping class again?"

Koko merely snorts when Ruka says, "Like you should be surprised. You're the one who taught him how."

Natsume merely shrugs and his eyes dart over to Sumire. "What are you doing with the hag?"

"You mean Sumire?"

Sumire feels the heat of her blush reaching the roots of her hair. She wants to yell at Natsume and tell him she's _cool, _that she doesn't make it a point to hang out with little kids but the words feel like they're stuck in her throat. Finally, she all but croaks, "Hey look, I'm not actually hanging out with this kid. He's always just around when I am and following me—"

"Sumire's my friend."

Sumire's mouth snaps shut and instead of seeing the friendly grin that's always been on Koko's face, she watches Natsume look at her dubiously and Ruka smile before the former shrugs and they both depart after mindless chatter.

She sits silently, looking at her notebook before she sighs and looks back up at him. "Look, just… thank you, I guess."

Koko shrugs. "I meant what I said. You're my friend."

Sumire merely rolls her eyes, but doesn't comment. He doesn't seem to be put out, though, because he asks, "You're grateful for what I said, aren't you?"

She looks at him suspiciously, "…Yes. What of it?"

She knows she should've kept her mouth shut when his grin brightens and he says cheekily, "So how about making me that sandwich?"

-;-

_iii._

"Hey, are you coming to the movies with us?"

Sumire looks up to see Wakako, Mikan and Anna standing around her. Wakako has one hand on her hip and the other propping up the handbag at her elbow. Her lips are pouted expectantly, but her eyes aren't looking at Sumire. Instead, they have found a trio of boys who are busy tossing a soccer ball between them. "Well?"

Mikan looks like her mind is off somewhere else again, as it always is. Her brown hair is pulled into a messy plait that rests on the curve of her shoulder and there's a faraway look in her eyes, like she's living in her own world, where there are no rules and everybody's happy. She's been like that for a while, ever since her father died and all. Her eyes, still big and innocent, are glazed and there's a tiny, distant smile on her lips, like she's remembering something long forgotten.

And then there's Anna, with pink hair predictably in its crimped disarray and uniform skirt and shirt, pressed and worn with perfection. She's the only one paying Sumire any attention. Her head is cocked curiously to the side and she has this quirky, endearing smile on her lips. "Sumire, you ok?" she says, reaching up a bit to put on a hand on her shoulder. "You're looking a bit…pensive, like you're in the midst of a great epiphany."

Sumire clears her throat and shrugs off the arm. "I'm fine. And I can't do the movies today," she says, while tucking her legs under her. "Koko's being ridiculous and he wants—"

"Koko, _again_?" Wakako spits acerbically.

Sumire starts, slightly surprised and Anna looks equally shocked.

Mikan's come out of her reverie long enough to say, "Hey, I think Koko's nice. We used to love him back in elementary school."

"Yeah. Emphasis on _elementary _school," Wakako says snootily. "We're older now. We know more than we did before. We're less naïve, _wiser._"

"I don't feel any different," Mikan chimes thoughtfully, sitting down on the grass and plucking the blades with her fingers. "And Koko's going to be in middle school in a few months. Why does it matter that he's in elementary school? We were in elementary school once."

"Yeah, yeah," Wakako waves her off dismissively. "That's the point. _We _were all in elementary school once and we _know _how they treated us. It's tradition; the normal cycle of things."

"So what you're saying is," Anna starts off with an edge of amusement, "—is that we're _supposed _to act like we're better than him _just _because we're in middle school? Really, Wakako. What are we, five?"

Before Wakako can cut in with a sharp remark, Sumire rolls her eyes and stands up, flipping back her dark green hair. "Look, it's not like missing _one _night out with you guys is going to be the end of the world. I'm sure you won't miss me _that _much."

"That's not true!" Mikan protests.

_She really is such a sweetheart sometimes, _Sumire thinks quietly. Out loud, she says, "I owe him this. You wouldn't understand but Koko… he's not that bad, actually." Seeing Wakako's pointed look, Sumire rethinks it and smirks. "Okay, fine. He's annoying and immature and incredibly stupid most of the time, but he's kinda sweet."

"Yeah," Wakako snorts. "Sure. You seem to have forgotten but that idiot totally called you ugly the first time you met."

"He tripped _me _the first time we met," Anna throws in with a laugh. "But that's just the way he is. That's Koko. He does silly things and makes us laugh. You can always count on Koko for a good time."

Sumire, begrudgingly, agrees. "Anyway, it's not like this is anything special anyway. We're friends, barely even that. He annoys me. I tolerate it. We get along just to get along."

"He likes you. You know that. I know that. So it's time to stop kidding yourself," Wakako says coldly, "—you know what? Whatever. I really don't care. You can do whatever the heck you want, but when things don't work out and he turns to you asking for the one thing that you can't give him, don't come back to me, because I'm just going to say those four words you've never liked hearing."

And with one last expression of disdain, Wakako turns and leaves.

"You know she doesn't mean that," Anna says quickly.

"No, I'm pretty sure she does. Wakako never says anything unless she means it. You know that."

Mikan shrugs and fiddles with the end of her braid. "Maybe she just really wanted you to come to the movies with us… you know how Wakako is. You're her best friend. She'll pretend to have a fun time watching movies when she's really thinking it over and before you know it, she'll either apologize or say something and it'll be like this never even happened."

Sumire turns away from them and looks back at the three boys who are now bumping the soccer ball to each other on their knees. "Yeah, well. We'll see."

She feels a hand on her shoulder before Mikan says softly. "Well, don't think about it too much. Have fun with Koko. We'll call you."

Sumire doesn't say anything, even when Anna kisses her lightly on the top of her head and the both of them leave.

-;-

_iv._

Sumire is lying flat on her back when Koko finally tires of the half-pipe and with a clatter of wheels and the crunch of gravel, he stands beside her with his skateboard under one arm and another smatter of scrapes, barely apparent from the moonlight.

"You're quiet," Koko tells her, dropping the skateboard down and sitting on it with his feet on either side. "You're usually not this quiet."

Sumire snorts. "Because for once, I'm not arguing with you about something completely inane."

"But I've given you plenty of opportunities to," Koko says lightly, resting his elbows on his kneecaps and his chin within his hands. "What's up, Seaweed-head? I can tell when something's wrong and well, this time, for some reason, I can't seem to cheer you up."

Sumire blinks for a second, turning his sentence over in her head before she sighs and looks at him from the corner of her eyes. It's late, not quite eleven, but far past her bedtime but Sumire can't seem to muster up the energy to care. Her brother has probably covered for her and her parents have never cared enough to pry.

"It's nothing. I guess…My best friend doesn't like you."

Koko doesn't hesitate when he says, "Yeah well, I can't say I'm surprised. Wakako doesn't like a lot of people. She's like… the evil demon from the sewers, ready to snatch unsuspecting children from the streets to serve as her loyal concubi—"

"Koko."

"Yeah, okay. Sorry." After a moment of silence, Koko moves his skateboard over to lie right beside her and she shifts over to make a little more room. When she realizes what she's just done, the action kind of surprises her. "Well, at least your other friends seem to like me. I mean, even Hotaru doesn't seem to want to bite my head off."

He sounds rather cheerful and Sumire can't help but shake her head. "Yeah. Well, to be honest, I don't much care for Hotaru's opinion of me. She's only my friend because of Mikan and well… everybody loves Mikan, even _if _she always has her head in the clouds."

Koko chuckles a bit. Then he sobers up. "I don't really get what Wakako's so uptight about. I mean, I'm in middle school, aren't I? What's the big deal now?"

She turns away from him and opts to try to pinpoint the tiny stars in the sky. "Koko, I'm going to be heading to high school next year and then, there's the gap again."

She can feel the heat of his stare on her ears, or perhaps it's the shame she feels, but she doesn't turn around to meet his gaze. She's never been very good at confrontation and there is just something about Koko that makes her feel… responsible, ashamed, sad. And she doesn't quite know why, but she knows she doesn't like it.

All three emotions hit her like a freight train when he asks, "Why does it matter?"

-;-

_v._

"Hells yes! High school, here we come!"

Sumire, for obvious reasons, feels like the extraordinarily large warmth in her chest is going to burst right out of her. It's the middle school ceremony right before their month of break and she can't be more excited. Wakako's been building up this day since the year after they first got into middle school and Sumire is just as excited as Wakako to start their new high school lives.

There's this feeling of extreme anticipation in which she can't help but want to shout from the rooftops that she's older, wiser and will be among the oldest in Alice Academy.

"Sumi, I'm so glad you're with me like this!" Wakako gushes, basking in the loud ringing of applause as they stand in their gowns and caps in front of the proud parents and friends. Usami and Shouda shouldn't be standing next to each other, especially when Tobita and Suzuki and a handful of other names should be in between, but Wakako being Wakako and well, Sumire being Sumire, they'd gotten the others to make room and the two of them are being photographed together, much like it always is.

"Yeah, we're finally done, eh?" Sumire is smiling, waving at the crowd and gripping the edge of her cap, ready to make it fly.

"You bet! Best friends forever, Sumi! Elementary, to middle and now, to high school!"

They giggle like schoolgirls because, of course, they are, but right when Sumire lets the cap loose and it's spinning in circles in the air, she catches a glimpse of her brother and Mikan and Anna and Hotaru and Ruka.

And Koko.

And he's clapping vigorously, occasionally putting both hands around his mouth to shout something that's drowned and swimming with the other cries of celebration and congratulations and for some reason, and Sumire hates him for it, her heart sinks just the slightest.

And she'll pretend she doesn't know, for the life of her, why she feels this way when minutes—no—seconds before, she was ecstatic. But truth of the matter is, Sumire knows exactly why she dreads when she sees him next.

There are too many expectations.

There are too many things riding against them.

There is too much, just too much, and somehow it's just not enough.

-;-

_vi._

It's cold outside, but Sumire finds herself still hesitating to grab the doorknob and walk in.

Couples are walking in and lonely boys file out and it takes her another four minutes to tell herself she's being ridiculous, _it's just Koko_, and to yank the door open.

She walks into a warm cloud of coffee and warmth.

The minute she sees him, sitting in the corner booth with Natsume, Ruka and Mikan, Sumire smiles and wonders why she was so reluctant a few minutes before. These are her friends and she should never feel as if she were a hunted animal. It just didn't make sense.

"Glad you could make it," Mikan smiles charmingly before pushing the little café menu into Sumire's hands and taking a bite of her _too _sugary chocolate cake. Sumire watches as she nudges Natsume with her elbow and offers him a bit of the cake, saying, "Want some, emo boy?"

But he merely looks at her with disdain and returns, "I'd rather poke my eye out with a skewer."

"Be nice, Natsume," Ruka's voice is amused.

"Yeah! Why are you always so mean to me!?" Mikan huffs, scooping another bite of cake into her mouth. Before he answers, she turns to Ruka and gestures to her slice. "Do you want some Ruka-pyon? It's really good."

Before Ruka can answer, Natsume says roughly, "No, he doesn't, Polka Dots. Nobody wants to have your disgusting disease."

Sumire merely shakes her head and ignores the jealous reminder that Natsume ends up liking girls like Mikan—_Mikan—_but more than that, she ignores the envy that reminds her, they are lucky to be, well, it didn't matter.

Koko rests an elbow on the table and cocks his head to the side, slightly, as if asking her, _hey, are you okay? You seem a bit off._ But Sumire merely shakes her head and orders a latte and a slice of pie.

It doesn't take long for Ruka to take off, saying something about hanging out with Nobara while her parents are out of town, which earns a punch and a mocking comment from Natsume and an, _atta boy, Ruka, _from Koko.

Then, before she knows it, Mikan announces the time and says her Grandpa wants her home at nine-thirty and Natsume immediately says he'll walk her home because _obviously you're stupid enough to get lost even _if _you've been living in the neighborhood for seven years._

It's just the two of them, like it's been for a while now and it isn't long before they're arguing again, much about the same thing.

It's always about the same thing.

"You really don't get it, do you?" she says rhetorically, folding her arms against the cold as they walk to the park. "You've got two years left and I'm done middle school—"

"Yeah, I think I _noticed _that when I saw you walking across the stage today during final ceremonies. God, Sumire, could you _get _some other material here? You're killing me! Do I _look _like I care whether you're two years older than me or not?"

"You might not care about it, but I _do. _C'mon, Koko. You knew I was never interested the day you sought me out and started mooning after me. I've told you time and time again that all we'd ever be was friends and you knew that coming in! Why are you freaking out now because—"

She's sixteen and he's fourteen, but he's already so much taller.

She barely even registers the fact that his hands are holding her by the shoulders or that he has this serious—so out of place!—expression on his face. "I'm not freaking out, but I'm so _sick _and _tired _of you saying you're not 'interested' and hearing this," he rolls his eyes heavenward as if the word he's seeking is painted straight out of the clouds and then, "—I'm sick of hearing this stupid excuse about _age _and _gaps. _I mean, what the heck does that even mean, the stupid gap?"

Sumire shakes herself and, once again, there's that feeling of shame swelling within her belly. And she hates him, again, for doing this. "I'm not some Mikan and you are definitely no Natsume," her voice is hard, "—and there are standards to meet, expectations to follow through and there's no… there's no room for you, Koko. I'm sorry, but it's not enough."

Koko is silent for a moment.

His hands slip from her shoulders until they're down by his sides. And then he merely looks at her, not quite sad but definitely not happy. It's more of a resigned, I-still-have-faith-in-you-but-you're-really-too-much sort of look that makes Sumire want to hang her head and apologize.

"I really can't believe this." His abrupt comment surprises her. "I thought you were different from Usami. Do you _actually _care so much about how people will see you? I'm not saying I'm more important; I'd never say that. And I know you've been friends with Wakako since elementary school but seriously, Sumire? I would've thought you'd have grown voice box and started speaking for yourself after all of these years."

"It's _different_," she hisses. "You're in middle school, you wouldn't understand. You never _could _understand. I'm going into high school now."

"Is that your excuse for everything?" Koko laughs, even though it's bitter and resentful. "Because it sure sounds like it." His tone is biting and mocking when he says, "I can't be friends with Koko, I'm in _middle school_ now_. _No, this isn't a date, he's in elementary school for God's sake! I can't possibly date Koko, he's younger than me by two years! I don't need an excuse for being completely stupid, I'm in high school!"

"If you're done being patronizing," she hisses between her teeth, "—you can go home. I can't deal with this right now. I'm—"

"Let me guess," Koko cuts in, smirking bitterly. "You're in _high school_?"

"Tired," Sumire says blandly, "—and thanks for being so immature. That's just another reason why I could never take you seriously. You _are _just in middle school, after all."

Koko blinks at her, disbelieving, before he shakes his head ruefully. "Right," he says, tucking his hands in his pockets. "Right. I'm immature." She watches as he looks at her; his brown eyes are surrounded by thick black eyelashes and he has that wounded expression on his face before he chuckles and looks away from her. "Right, well."

He walks up to her with such an intimidating aura, that at first, Sumire recoils, as if believing he'd slap her. His expression is quizzical, and then finally, understanding, until his expression looks like one she's never seen before.

It is complete and utter defeat with more than just an edge of fury.

He takes her hand firmly and immediately puts a carefully wrapped gift in her hand. Without looking her in the eye, he says, voice tight,

"Congratulations on graduating. You're in high school now."

* * *

WHAT'D YOU THINK OF THE CRACKPAIRING? :D RukaNobara anyone? No takers? Yeah, same.


	2. And She Was a Fool to Believe He'd Wait

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Tachibana Higuchi. The rest is mine. :)  
**Dedication: **Heartbroken Confession.  
Prompts: "I'm trying very hard to be witty right now, but I'm beginning to think slugging you in the face will suffice." SumireKoko, a Crack!Pairing, Socks!

-

**When the Clock Strikes Twelve**

-;-

_There is too much, just too much, and somehow it's just not enough._

_-;-_

_-;-_

**Chapter Two: And She Was a Fool to Believe He'd Wait**

-;-

_vii._

"Are you okay?"

Sumire looks up slowly and nods her head twice before continuing to stare out at the sea of people milling by the food court. Her mind is full of questions but she can't seem to pinpoint one in particular and work out her ideas. They're all zipping around inside her head and she can practically hear the pinging in her head as they crash into walls and ricochet into corners.

There's a pain between her eyes that she just can't alleviate.

Mikan sits down beside her with two shopping bags on the floor and a concerned frown on her lips. "You got into a fight with Koko yesterday."

_That _brings her out of her thoughts. She lifts her eyes just the slightest and shrugs. "We fight all the time. I'm surprised he went crying to you about it."

"He didn't come crying," Mikan defends, stirring her fruit smoothie. "I said you got into a fight with him, I didn't say he _told _me you got into a fight with him. With the both of you, it's so easy to see. I went by Natsume's dorm and Koko was just lying on the couch with this blank look in his eyes and everyone knows he likes you and he's only ever gotten like that when you and him fight. Besides," she pauses nonchalantly, taking a light sip of her drink, "—you look exactly the way he did."

"I do not," Sumire huffs indignantly, restraining herself from pounding the table top and shrieking, _so there! _

Mikan leans closer and peers at her with her large brown eyes and Sumire can't help but want to melt into her seat, away from the probing stare. "Well, your eyes are better, at least. When I came up, you were glassy-eyed and frowning and drumming your fingers on the table. And I know you only do _that _when you're really bothered about something. So if it's not about Koko, then what's wrong?"

She opens her mouth to tell an easy lie, but her thoughts are too jumbled to come up with anything even the _least _bit passable. Instead, she grumbles, "We fight all the time and we'll forgive each other later. That's just the way things go with us."

Mikan nods and sips her drink thoughtfully. Her eyes slide back to Sumire and she asks softly, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"But a little, really?"

Sumire glares at her, but Mikan only smiles that charming, too-bright smile of hers and Sumire figures, what the hell? She's never going to tell Wakako because her best friend would probably laugh and say good riddance. Hotaru? The girl wouldn't even care. And Anna was definitely more of a talker than a listener. Mikan, even though she never really seemed to stay on Earth, is the only person she could ever talk to about this.

So she clears her throat and starts, "Koko likes me, as in like-likes me and I've always told him that we'd never work out. Yesterday he asked me out again and I sort of just snapped at him but this time, instead of just taking it, he snapped _back _and now I don't know what to do. He's furious with me."

Mikan waits a second and blinks. "That's all?"

"What do you _mean _that's all? Isn't that enough?"

Mikan looks at her thoughtfully and purses her lips. "Well, do you think he's right to be mad at you?" Sumire merely looks at her blankly and Mikan shrugs and says, "Okay, I'm saying… if you were in his exact situation, would you be feeling the same way he is? There's a saying to this. Before you judge someone, walk a minute in their shoes… mile in their shoes? I don't remember but Sumire walk."

She thinks it over in her head, thinks about liking, possibly loving a boy older than her by two years and feeling the sharp stunt of rejection when the only excuse the boy has for her is, _you're two years younger than me_, and suddenly, Sumire feels a heavy weight on her chest, so much heavier than it's ever been before. It's a gnawing brick of lead being held up by the small thread-like arteries and veins and she feels like they're too thin, too weak to possibly be able to hold something so heavy.

The pain between her eyes grows stronger and Sumire realizes, horrified beyond belief, that she might even cry. She's never felt like crying before. She remembers crying _years _ago when she became just too tired to keep on trying to be whatever her mother wanted her to be. Now, she isn't tired of her mother.

She's tired of herself.

She feels like such a horrible person.

The things she said, _God, _the things she said…

"Judging by the look on your face, you feel bad about it," Mikan speaks up, bringing her briefly from her thoughts. "So why don't you go look for him? Pull up your socks and talk to him. You know Koko will always listen to you. But don't you think he respects himself enough not to apologize for you for once? Even though it's hard, sometimes apologizing is the way to go."

Sumire wants to stab herself in the eye. "You know I don't apologize. I never apologize."

"Now's not the time for pride, Sumire," Mikan admonishes lightly, putting her hand on top of Sumire's and patting it firmly. "Just remember, sometimes the hardest and the right thing are the same."

Sumire sighs, bites her tongue to stop herself from saying something ridiculous like _thank you _and grabs her purse from its spot on the floor. "I'll see you later," she tells the brunette.

Mikan just laughs with that wide smile still on her face and yells, "You'd better go talk to him!"

In her head, as she waves a hand over her shoulder, Sumire thinks maybe she will.

-;-

_viii._

They haven't spoken for a week now.

Seven whole days.

It's funny, the longest time they've ever really gone without speaking is two days, unless one counted the eight days Koko had gone away with his family on a break to China. Even then, they'd kept in touch via emails and instant messengers. It's weird, Sumire admits, not having to hear his grinning voice in her ear, the low and high tones in his voice that both annoys and comforts her.

She wonders, what would have changed if she actually went to talk to him that day Mikan had advised her to. Would they be talking now, as if that day she'd practically yelled at him and told him they were no longer friends hadn't happened?

She guesses yes, because he would've known the significance of the gesture. She apologizes for no one, after all, and some people may call her a coward or a fool for it and Sumire wouldn't be able to say otherwise, but this is her. This is the way she is and Sumire can't just _change _that.

But another part, a big, gnawing presence in her head asks her, _would you actually embrace the idea or would you both just glide back into the same cycle of things?_ She could just picture it in her head, seeing Koko with his Cheshire grin and brown eyes and having the same reaction. She knows it's bad and she knows it's wrong but she's so used to caring about what Wakako and what everyone else says that she can't picture everybody giving her an easy time about it all.

Maybe Mikan.

Always Mikan, but she wonders, wishes, wants to _not _care about what everyone thinks.

But the pathetic thing is, she does. She does so bad and she just wishes things were different.

"Sumi." There's a snap. "Sumire! You there? God, what is _up _with you these days?" There is another patter of snaps before Sumire blinks and sees Wakako's frowning face come to view. "Okay, what's wrong? You've been an ice cube of boring for the past like… five days. I was going to wait until you just came out and told me, but it doesn't look like you're going to. I'm your best friend, Sumi. Tell me about it."

Sumire just looks at her blankly and shakes her head until her brain feels like it's going to implode. "It's nothing. Just something silly. Look, I'm not feeling very well, I'm just going to get somebody to pick me up and we'll do the beach thing some other day, ok?"

Wakako frowns. "Okaaaaay, bail much? Look, tell it to me straight. Is this about Koko?"

Sumire looks at her best friend carefully and takes in the smooth black hair and brilliant green eyes and then the frustration lining every muscle in her body. "Yeah, it does."

"Don't 'yeah it does' me. I'm your best friend. I may not care for him very much but talk to me about it. You're freaking me out with this zombie shit," Wakako half wails.

With much (a _lot_) of deliberation, Sumire sits back down on the beach towel Wakako's thrown on the ground and slumps down in her jeans and T-shirt, eyeing the water without really seeing it. She doesn't know where to start, so she just talks and she doesn't quite know what's she's saying but Wakako is half nodding, half humming and in the back of her head, Sumire wonders if she's actually listening.

"Maybe you should have talked to him. I know you guys are friends and all, and losing a friend like that just _sucks_. I mean, if we fought and I left it at that when you _knew _I was wrong, would you really leave it like that? I know I wouldn't."

"I thought you didn't like Koko," Sumire answers, her voice bordering on incredulous. "And now you're telling me to talk to him when, the last time I brought him up, you practically snarled and spat down my throat?"

"Whoa, way to be graphic," Wakako snorts, lying down on her back and looking at the sun with her sunglasses. "Don't get me wrong, Su, I can't stand the guy but if you're worried about me commenting on your friendship, then don't. If you started going _out _with him, now _that's _where I draw the line. We don't date younger boys, remember? It's against the code."

Sumire contemplates this and leans on her elbows, ignoring the looks of the boys walking along the beach.

"You…you aren't interested in Koko like _that _right? I mean, do you like him?"

Sumire, in all honestly, has no idea.

-;-

_ix._

The break starts and ends almost within the blink of an eye and before she knows it, she's wearing the distasteful high school uniform of browns, yellows and blacks and can't help but agree with Wakako when she says, _we look like bumble bees!_

And Sumire thinks, if she tilts her head a bit behind her, she can see Koko at the end of the line at the Opening Ceremonies, but after the initial glance, she doesn't look at him anymore because all of them are being ushered into their respective buildings and Koko is a mere brown spot amongst the black, blond and rainbow-haired students.

She goes through her classes like an android on autopilot and trusts Wakako enough to know she'll answer and cover for her with ease. Sumire's always been popular and Wakako knows nonchalance like the back of her hand. So when she says, "Hey Sumi, you told me to remind you to see sensei about that program being offered in Textiles, right?" Sumire immediately knows her best friend is giving her a way out of the idle chatter and beginning of the year gossip that the school girls always have.

"Right, thanks, 'kako."

Sumire waves at the other girls, smiles the smile she's practiced for weeks in the mirror and goes on a walk because her head is pounding and she just doesn't _care _about what they have to say right now.

She's surprised beyond belief when she sees Koko—_Koko—_at the table _she_ first met him at, surrounded by smiling girls and Natsume, Ruka, Mikan, Anna and Hotaru. Of course, he's standing on his skateboard, his tie worn loosely around his neck and his blazer thrown somewhere on the ground, Sumire bets, and his white shirt already wrinkly and loose. He says something with a grin and the table erupts with laughter and Sumire can't help but think, he's doing so well without her and she's a wreck.

How ironic.

As if he can feel her and read her mind, his head snaps up and his smile freezes on his face. She feels her heart drop slightly to her feet when his smile comes back, strained and he waves half-heartedly in her direction.

"Sumire!" Mikan yelps, running over to her with Anna on her heels. "You know, for the high school uniform being such a weird color, you really do make it look good."

"You think?" Sumire tries to laugh, doing a little twirl and glancing in Koko's direction to see if he's looking.

He is looking at her and Sumire wonders about the huge leap that immediately comes to her heart. He looks away quickly in order to say something to Natsume that makes him grin and the girls to make a show of tittering.

"Anyway," Anna says, smiling and nudging her in the ribs, "Let's go over to the boys. You're not doing anything, are you Sumire?"

"No, I was just walking," she admits, letting Mikan drag her over by the hand until they're standing by the table. Koko keeps looking at her and with her tongue feeling heavy like metal, it's a wonder how she manages to get out the one word, "Hey."

This time, when Koko smiles, it's carefree and much like how he used to smile to her. "Hey, Sumire."

_Sumire, not Permy. _

She doesn't know if she's pleased or annoyed with the change.

She opens her mouth to say something, but one of the middle school girls she doesn't know beats her to the punch and says, "Koko, tell them what you told me about the middle school principal! It was _so _funny."

Mikan half howls an agreement and Koko sighs good-naturedly before starting a tale about creeping into the school to prepare a prank for the Opening ceremonies, only to be caught by the rather big-breasted middle school principal who proceeded to lecture him on the way to the office, only to end up having a heated debate with him about whether soup from China or Korea was better. She'd even forgotten all about him trying to ruin the school ceremonies.

Sumire merely shook her head, thinking, _leave it to Koko to befriend the enemy._

They all have a good laugh before Anna says she has to go before she misses Misaki-sensei and Ruka and Hotaru, who had gotten much closer after he broke up with Nobara, went along with her along with two of the other middle school girls. Sumire thinks she's stayed her fill and should be leaving too.

Only she doesn't really want to.

She's forgotten what it feels like to be in his presence and it's calming and light and Sumire hasn't felt this way since… well, since their fight all those weeks ago. So she sits and listens to the other girls speaking to Natsume and Koko, even though Natsume just grunts and the girls then whirl around to talk to Koko but Sumire finds she doesn't even mind.

It's nice just to hear his voice.

"You okay?" Mikan says to her quietly, when Koko earns another chorus of laughter from his 'people'.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Sumire answers, not looking her in the face. Instead, she leans on her elbows and looks at the sky and wonders about things that she really has no business wondering about.

"You're sort of quiet and I don't know. I know you didn't talk to him and I didn't want to say anything about it but Sumire, you're going to regret it if it ends like it does. And it _will _end at this rate." Her voice is low and earnest, but Sumire just doesn't want to listen because as low as it is, she doesn't doubt that somebody will still hear.

"I'm fine with the way things are right now."

Mikan merely opens her mouth, indignant, before she closes it, glares at her and gets to her feet. "Fine, good luck with that." And the bell rings. Sumire watches as Mikan kisses Natsume lightly on the temple before she runs off toward the middle school building with the others following behind.

"For a stupid girl, she's right you know," Natsume tells her lightly.

Sumire wants the both of them to shut up, because they're perfect and they would never understand.

-;-

_x._

Their encounters are much the same for the next two months before her birthday and she's convinced her parents to let her have free reign of the house for the night to have a party. Her parents refused after the first two tries, but after telling them they are allowed to check up on the place every two hours and that her brother would be home (which isn't exactly _all _lie), her parents concede and Sumire invites everybody that matters, and then some.

The party is booming by the time Koko, Natsume and Mikan walk into the room and by then, Sumire is hot, a bit sweaty and not entirely herself. She hasn't had anything to drink, but the adrenaline in the room is through the roof and Sumire thinks, what the hell? She's seventeen and she's going to be _happy _this year, dammit!

So without preamble, she grabs Mikan's wrist and gets her to dance amongst the group that's half jumping to the music on full blast, half dancing without really knowing what they're doing. All Sumire hears is Mikan's laughing voice in her ear and the race of her heart pounding in her ears.

From the corner of her eyes, she glimpses Natsume sitting bored on the couch, dangling a cup of punch in his hands and keeping his eyes on Mikan. Sumire takes pity on him and drops the girl off by the couch where she giggles and snuggles up to him. He raises an eyebrow at her, and Sumire merely shrugs and flounces into the kitchen to get something that _isn't _spiked.

She doesn't expect to see Koko lounging in the kitchen flirting with a girl who's dangling her feet off the counter.

"Oh Sumire, happy birthday, sweetie!" The girl, she realizes, is a gossipmonger that she couldn't _not _invite due to social reasons. Sumire wants to glare at her, but opts to smile. "Thanks, Miki. Glad you could make it."

Koko doesn't continue to speak to the girl and Sumire thinks it's because she's in the room and Koko doesn't want to 'work his magic' with her stifling presence in the kitchen. Yeah? Well, he's out of luck because Sumire has just realized just how _hungry _she is too.

After saying a few more words to Koko and another happy birthday to her, the girl saunters out of the room and Sumire thinks it's about time she take her head out of the refrigerator. She hums under her breath with an apple and some fruit juice in the carton.

"You're seventeen," Koko says simply, not condescending or enthusiastic. "How do you feel?"

She scrutinizes him, taking a bite out of the apple to give herself some time to think, and as if knowing the reason to her actions, Koko sits on the counter and waits patiently. His brown eyes are still brown, half smiling. He looks older and she would bet anything that he is far taller than she is now.

When she's finished chewing, Sumire tries for honesty. "I don't feel any different, to tell you the truth."

"Really?" Koko actually looks surprised. "Really. Huh. Great."

Sumire raises an eyebrow. "And what is _that _supposed to mean?"

"Would you rather the truth or a lie," Koko says cheekily, causing her to growl. He eyes her with a smirk and when she answers with the former, he replies, "I thought you were going to say the same thing you used to say to me all the time. That you were older, wiser, better, in high school, the works."

Sumire feels the indignation rise in her but she squashes it with a sigh. She's going to be happy this year. She promised herself. And frankly, she admits she's a little tired of being angry and sad about Koko. So she chuckles humorlessly and takes another bite of her apple. "So what have you been up to. We haven't talked in a while."

"Yeah, I've been skateboarding, hanging out with Natsume and Ruka—can you believe Ruka actually might have a thing for Imai? Meanwhile she's been seeing some kid who's eighteen. His name's Hayate or something and whoa, mind _blown_. I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone whenever Ruka shows those moon eyes in her direction."

Sumire laughs and he smiles before continuing, "I joined the soccer team. Natsume got me into it this summer and we've been playing everyday when we have the time. My parents have let up on the whole business thing so that's good, I guess. I had lots of time to practice with the ball and board." He pauses, and then peeks up from his eyelashes shyly. "I'm far better than the last time you watched me."

"You sure about that?" Sumire snorts. "Well, I guess I can't be surprised. The last time I watched you skate, you sucked. You had bruises all over your arms and legs and were on your back more than you were on the board."

"Har har. You weren't too perfect either. I remember you ate your lip chap at lunch onc—"

"That only happened once!"

"Twice at _least_." Koko replies immediately, as if already anticipating her reaction. "And you _liked _it. You even wore those really weird pants that showed your bellybutton and—"

"Okay, okaaay," Sumire wails, trying not to throw the apple core at his head. "I'm trying very hard to be witty right now, but I'm beginning to think slugging you in the face will suffice. You're such a stinker."

"But you missed me," Koko says confidently.

Sumire looks at him for a moment, taking in his messy brown hair and eyes, familiar grin and relaxed demeanor and admits it to herself. "Yeah. Yeah, I did."

He smiles at that, and Sumire feels her own lips tugging upwards with his.

-;-

_xi._

She graduates in a few weeks, but she's not as excited as she thinks she should be. Wakako and she have always made a big deal about the next big milestone, but Sumire thinks she'll really miss this place. The teachers aren't too bad, the people, though most of them annoying, she'll kind of miss and her friends, well, that's a given. She hopes they won't stray too far once they all go their separate ways.

"How do you feel?" Mikan asks her, excited. She's wearing a very becoming summer dress with her long brown hair in a sloppy ponytail and Sumire thinks, at the back of her mind, if Mikan looks this pretty now sans make-up and not trying, she could look beautiful with.

Sumire shrugs and looks herself in the mirror.

Her long, dark green hair is down and curled and she's wearing a dress of her own in black. "I'm not _that _excited to graduate," she says honestly. "I think I'll miss you guys."

"We'll miss you too, you know," Mikan says softly, putting her hands on Sumire's shoulders and grinning at her through the mirror. "But you're all grown up and you've made it this far and I'm just so proud of you! Now let's go and celebrate! This might be the last time we have a big celebration with all of us!"

Sumire's smile turns into a smirk when Hotaru comes in with a tall, tall college boy and says, "You have two seconds to get out of this room before I leave you to catch your own ride."

The group arrives to the banquet hall in some plaza rented by the school and Sumire marvels briefly over the formal arrangements and the glimmering lights. Music is already playing and couples are already dancing and Sumire walks over to the side, pushing down the feeling of being a loner while Mikan coerces Natsume to dance, Wakako dances with some college boy she met two weeks before and even Imai dances with her boyfriend of ten months and almost jumps out of her skin when she feels a tap on her shoulder.

She tries to fight down the disappointment when she sees one of her classmates, Kaoru Nendo, instead of who she wants it to be. The disappointment hits her like a ton of bricks and she wonders, why do I even _want _it to be Koko? They're friends and she's fine with that.

Except most of her wasn't.

"Sumire, would you like to dance?"

She smiles and agrees, pretending all the while that he's somebody else.

"You looked comfortable with the creep," she hears Koko from the side and whirls around to find his unreadable eyes on her.

"Who? Nendo or Hoshino?"

"…You danced with Nendo, too?"

Sumire laughs and can't help but beam at him, sighing good-naturedly before holding out her hand. He looks at it blankly before looking into her eyes, back to her hand and back at her eyes before a pink tint appears on his cheeks. "Oh, me. Right."

She laughs again and they dance.

He is warm and so tall and it feels so right. She wonders how he knows how to dance, but right when she's about to comment on his ability, he misses a step and stomps on her toe and before she can cry out in pain, he mutters, "Shit. Sorry."

She looks up at him and he's looking at her sheepishly, half blushing, half grinning and her heart warms just at the sight of him. Her tongue feels thick in her mouth and Sumire wants to scream at herself because God, she feels the warmth pooling into her cheeks and that isn't supposed to happen.

"That's okay."

They dance through that first song, glide into the second and before they know it, they've lost count. All she knows is, she's glad something is going right.

-;-

_xii._

The scene at graduation is much the same as it was for middle school with the family and friends in an uproar and Wakako at her side. Their grins are both wide enough to split their faces in two but they don't say a word to each other.

There are no words to explain the warm feeling blooming in both of their chests and the feeling of accomplishment gnawing at their bones. All Sumire is aware of is the ear-splitting celebratory shouts and the mass of faceless people in the crowd, cheering on her graduating class. It's enough to make her heart rattle in her chest.

After giving her parents a hug, her brother a kiss and taking pictures with her classmates, she walks up to Mikan and the old gang and smiles widely. She lifts up her arms and twirls around once, "Well? What do you think?"

"I can't believe they thought you were smart enough to graduate," Natsume piped in blandly, earning a sharp elbow in the gut and a chastising, _Natsume. _He merely shrugs and half smiles at her and Sumire rolls her eyes before pulling the obnoxious kid into a hug. "Miss you too, Natsume."

One hand pats her on the back but Natsume only replies with, "Whatever. Congrats."

"I say we celebrate!" Mikan exclaims, clapping her hands together and looking around at the group. "Where to? Dinner? Grandpa extended my curfew so I'm allowed to stay up 'til eleven thirty."

"Dinner sounds great. Just let me change out of these clothes and I'll be out in a second."

"You guys go on ahead. Just tell me where we're going and I'll drive Permy there when she's done." Sumire looks at Koko surprised, but everybody else has already nodded and decided on a place and she waits until they're all gone before she cocks an eyebrow at him. "You don't mind?"

He shakes his head and half smiles at her. "Nah, I never mind."

They're walking to the school when Koko tells her to wait a second and Sumire turns to look at him, only to see that he's not even a step away and is looking at her with intense brown eyes. He reaches with one of his hands and Sumire stiffens when he plucks the necklace that's hidden in her graduation gown.

A smile touches his lips and Koko fingers the pendant, tracing the words Sumire's memorized by now and then plucks another gift from his pocket, much like the carefully wrapped gift she'd gotten from him a few years ago.

His smile is kind when he takes her hand and places the gift in her palm. "Congratulations, you're done."

She opens the gift almost giddily and smiles when she pulls an almost identical necklace from out of the box. Her smile falters but she looks up at him and thanks him nonetheless, pulling him into a tight hug that makes her want to cry and never let him go. "Thanks, Koko. I'm just going to change and I'll be right out."

He smiles and nods and she ducks into the school almost wailing when she's on the other side of the doors.

Because his first necklace says, "I love you."

But the second says, "We'll always be friends."

And Sumire just wants to cry and scream because she has nobody to blame but herself for this.

She was a fool to believe he'd wait for her.

* * *

When I said there was a crack pairing last chapter, I meant the RukaNobara, not the SumireKoko.  
Thanks for reading. :)


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